88 



OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



velopment generally. The same trends are beginning to develop in 

 the National Science Foundation, but not among other civihan 

 agencies, as is demonstrated in Table 14. 



Table 14. — Recent trends in Federal funding of oceanographic research 

 [In millions of dollars] 



1 Not available; in 1957, Included in other programs. 



» Includes the following for ship construction or conversion: Navy 1958—3.69; Navy 1960—5.2; C. & Q.S. 

 1960—2.0; NSF 1960—3.0. 

 s Excludes all Hydrographic Office activities. 



Source: Interagency Committee on Oceanography. 

 E. FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVING OCEANOGRAPHIC RESPONSIBILITIES 



In view of the broad implications of the sea in terms of military, 

 commercial, political, economic and scientific affairs, it is to be ex- 

 pected that cognizance over various aspects of oceanic research is a 

 matter of concern to the Federal Government. At present, some 19 

 or so departments and agencies have statutory jurisdiction over dif- 

 ferent sectors of the field; those having well defined interests are 

 listed in the folloAving; those with largest marine budgets are "starred" 



(*). 



1. U.S. Navy 



Since the oceans are the Navy's primary domain and since the 

 Navy, in providing for the national defense, must both protect our 

 shores against attack and maintain the seas free for commerce, it 

 must develop an understanding of the surface of the sea, of the ocean 

 bottom, and of the relationships between the ocean and its atmos- 

 pheric boundary. 



Historically, the U.S. Navy undertook responsibilities for under- 

 standing the sea in 1842 when Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury was 

 appointed Superintendent of the Depot of Charts and Instruments, 

 which later became the Hydrographic Office. Charting of the seas 

 became routine and the Navy enlisted voluntary contributions of data 

 from the merchant fleet as well as from deliberate hydrographic 

 surveying. It was not untU World War II, however, that the fine 

 structure and detail of the sea became a critical factor in undersea 

 warfare through the recognition that submarines could conceal them- 

 selves from acoustical detection, as discussed previously. 



Development of apparatus for the detection of enemy submarines 

 and quieting techniques for the protection of our own was the respon- 

 sibility of the Bureau of Ships which, during World War II, was the 

 primary military sponsor of studies in the ocean. 



When the Office of Naval Research was created by Public Law 588 

 on August 14, 1946, it undertook the sponsorship of a much broader 

 program in oceanography. 



Thus, at the present time, three units within the Navy have major 

 responsibilities regarding oceanic research: The Hydrographic Office, 

 the Bureau of Ships, and the Office of Naval Research; interest by 

 others is developing. 



(a) Hydrographic Office.* — The Hydrographic Office was formally 

 established by an act of Congress approved June 21, 1866, charged 



